


Café au Lait

by Lonaargh



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Coffeeshop AU, M/M, gift for secret santa, mild swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 08:57:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9377609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lonaargh/pseuds/Lonaargh
Summary: Working at his local StarStruck coffeeshop (the coffee serving kind, not the other kind) Bucky was used to people ordering the strangest beverages. So imagine his surprise when one day this gorgeous man walks into his shop and orders a coffee.Just that. Just a coffee.OR:Coffeeshop AU where Steve orders a regular coffee. Bucky never stood a chance."So. What can I do for you today?” Bucky asked, shaking himself mentally. This was not the time to be fawning over clients. Bad Bucky.  ‘Ask him if you could do him’ his brain piped up, and it was all Bucky could do not to repeat out loud what his treacherous brain just suggested.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CheyanneChika](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheyanneChika/gifts).



> (Warning: an oodleplex of exclamationmarks is coming up. A sure sign of insanity.)
> 
> This fic is a Secret Santa gift for [ CheyanneChika.](http://archiveofourown.org/users/CheyanneChika/profile) Here you go, love! Enjoy!
> 
> Thanks a million to my fantastic beta [ DrWholocked!](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Samilu/pseuds/DrWholocked) Without her this fic would be nigh unreadable. *smooches*  
> Also a million thanks to my proofreaders [lolymie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lolymie/profile) and [xlogophile](http://archiveofourown.org/users/xlogophile/profile)!  
> They kept assuring me that I didn't horribly maim the personalities of any of the characters. You guys rock!

“So, Mister… Barnes-” 

“Call me James, please.” 

“So, James. What made you decide to apply for a job here?” 

“I need the money. I need something that keeps me busy and off the streets. And, no offense to your fine establishment, I need something that doesn’t really require me to think.” Bucky’s mouth quirked in a smile before adding, “And I like your unicorn logo.”

The woman sitting on the other side of the desk laughed. “Well, I admire you being upfront with me like this.” She glanced down at the papers in front of her. Bucky was very adept at upside down reading and he pretended not to notice that his name was on most of those papers.

“No criminal record?” She managed to sound casual when asking the question, but Bucky already knew that she had done an extensive background check on him. In fact, the third page from the top might be the actual report.

“No, ma’am. Been in the army, always kept my nose clean, so to speak.” Mentioning the army was a bit mean. He knew most people had a soft spot for veterans, it might just land him this job slightly easier. And calling her “ma’am”. He didn’t know why, but so far he found that women liked it. Women, and a few men he met. 

“Yes, you mentioned in your resumé that you served in Afghanistan.” She looked up again and smiled at him. 

“Well, I don’t plan on keeping you here too long by asking inane questions like ‘where do you see yourself in five years’-”

“I’m not sure. My time machine is broken and David Tennant won’t let me borrow the Tardis.”

“-because we rarely get real answers to that question. Thank you for that marvellous example.” She laughed out loud again, shaking her head in disbelief.

Bucky knew he had nailed the interview when she leaned back in her chair, the papers in front of her all but forgotten. This was the first time ever he had succeeded in a job interview by being a smartass. It felt good. 

“Congratulations, Mister Barnes. You are hired.” She stood up and offered him her hand. 

He followed her example and shook her hand. Standing up also revealed his left arm. The prosthetic one. Obviously she had already seen it when he had walked in, and it was mentioned on his resumé as well, but he knew people barely noticed it when he was sitting down and it was out of sight. He had to _hand_ it to her (hah, he was so proud of himself for that one) she was very good at politely not staring at it.

“I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that,” he replied.

“You can start tomorrow morning, if you’re up for it?” She asked, sitting down again and pulling out a few booklets from her drawer. “These are the house rules and basic guidelines. If you stop by Cindy at the frontdesk, she’ll draw you up a contract.”

They spent another ten minutes going over the basic rules and any questions Bucky might have (he had none). Finally they were done. She handed Bucky the papers and shook his hand one last time.

“James. Welcome to StarStruck Coffee!”

~~

“Welcome to StarStruck Coffee, can I take your order please?” Bucky flashed his politest smile at the mother and daughter standing in front of his counter. He hated them on sight. They both seemed like creepy clones of each other, with their bleached hair and inches thick layers of makeup. And neither of them seemed to be able to make a choice.

“So, what do you think Betty?” The daughter chirped, her handbag cradled in the crook of her elbow, “Shall we take a low-fat, soy milk, iced latte with strawberry syrup?”

Betty? This girl, who couldn’t be any older than fourteen, called her mother _Betty_? What in the world was this world coming to?

“I don’t know, Ferrari-”

You have _got_ to be kidding. Ferrari? This mother named her actual kid _Ferrari_?

“-I think I want a tall half nonfat and half soy, triple shot with one regular shot, one decaf shot, and one half-caff shot pumpkin cappuccino.”

“I’m sure you do,” Bucky muttered, the manic customer service smile not leaving his lips. 

“I beg your pardon?” Betty tittered, her too thinly tweezed eyebrows shooting up to her receding hairline. 

“I asked ‘How do you do?’, ma’am,” he answered, not missing a beat, “I always start to mumble when I’m the presence of two gorgeous ladies such as yourselves. Sisters, I presume?”

He knew he was laying it on thick, but he doubted she would notice.

Betty shot him a dirty glare, “She’s only twelve. I’m her _mother_.”

Whelp. He was wrong.

“I apologize, ma’am. Did you make a choice?”

“Are your beans fairtrade?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Then I’ll have two tall half nonfat and half soy, triple shot with one regular shot, one decaf shot, and one half-caff shot pumpkin cappuccinos.”

“Coming right up, ma’am.”

He loved this job. Sure, it was low-pay. Sure, it was easy. But the coworkers were great and he was good at this shit. He was fast, efficient, and he knew his coffee.

It didn’t take him long to present the customer with her preferred beverage and he rang her up, the smile still on his lips.

Betty huffed and gave him the amount of money due, not able to find a single thing to complain about. 

“Come along, Ferrari. We have to be elsewhere.”

Ferrari nodded and followed, but not before winking at Bucky and leaning over the counter suggestively. 

“Here is my number. You’re cute. I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.”

And then she was gone, wobbling out the door on heels that were almost as tall as she was.

“Well, that was disturbing,” Bucky muttered as he ripped up the napkin on which she had crudely written her phone number in lipstick.

“Kids these days, right?” The voice gave him goosebumps over his whole body. He slowly turned around to his next customer and his knees almost gave way underneath him.

The owner of the voice was _gorgeous_. Blond hair, blue eyes, a physique to _kill_ for. 

“Yeah,” Bucky squeaked, and he cleared his throat, “I mean, yeah. Although I do think it’s mostly the parents fucking up,” Oh shit, is he really discussing child upbringing with a customer?

“I hear you. I couldn’t agree more.” The man nodded solemnly.

“So. What can I do for you today?” Bucky asked, shaking himself mentally. This was not the time to be fawning over clients. Bad Bucky. ‘ _Ask him if you could do him’_ his brain piped up, and it was all Bucky could do not to repeat out loud what his treacherous brain just suggested.

“I’d like a coffee, please.”

Bucky was so used to the extravagant orders that he waited for a full thirty seconds, before asking, “I’m sorry. What?”

“A coffee?” Confusion crept over the face of the handsome man as he looked around, “I did walk into the right store, right? This is StarStruck Coffee?”

“Yes, yes,” Bucky hurried to say, “It’s just that… well… not a lot of people order just coffee. They usually want something added to it, like syrup, or milk, or-” he gestured helplessly at the literally dozens of jars and containers with sprinkles, chocolate flakes, nuts, and varied other assorted toppings and whatnots.

The man’s blue eyes glanced at the toppings dismissively, “I prefer my coffee to taste like coffee. But thank you.”

“Alright. What size?”

“Large.” Of course, Bucky couldn’t help it. Just the mention of the word ‘large’ made his brain go in a completely different direction. 

“I had a feeling you’d say that,” he answered, grinning cheekily.

It was a great flirt, Bucky thought to himself afterwards, it was subtle, playful, AND a compliment if you really thought hard (hah) about it.

Sadly, his customer did not even register it as a flirt.

“Yeah, when you’re as big as I am-” Bucky almost choked on his own saliva here, and started coughing violently, “-people always assume you take the largest things available.”

“I can imagine,” Bucky wheezed in between coughing fits. This guy was pulling his leg. He had to be. Nobody would make a remark like _that_ and not be aware of how utterly sexual it sounded. ‘C’mon Buck, get it together. You’re a professional,’ he mentally reprimanded himself. 

“Milk and sugar?”

“No sugar, but I do like some nice cream.”

“Oh, c’mon!”

“I’m sorry?”

Bucky glared at the man in front of him, searching and scanning for any sign on the man’s face that he was messing with him. But the man radiated innocence. 

“Nothing, nothing,” Bucky mumbled, pouring cream in the man’s cup, “I just remember that I still have to pick up my drycleaning. Should have done that last week, but I keep on forgetting. Would forget my own head if it wasn’t attached. Haha.”

“Aha,” the man replied, uncertainly. “Well. Good luck with that.”

“Yes. Thank you. Anyway, here’s your coffee, sir. That’ll be $1.50 and please enjoy your day!”

“Thanks, same goes for you, James.” 

This time Bucky was prepared, he had already seen the man stare at his nametag. “Call me Bucky,” he replied, “‘James’ sounds so formal, like I should be wearing a suit with a tie.”

“Alright, Bucky. My name is Steve.” The smile he got in return should be illegal, Bucky considered as his legs turned to jelly and his stomach did a double flip. The man paid, turned around and started walking away, but not before turning around and adding, “Just between you and me? I think you’d look gorgeous in a suit.”

~~

Steve quickly became a regular customer. He showed up almost every day. Bucky hadn’t the foggiest idea about what it actually was that Steve did for a living. He was always dressed somewhat old fashioned, but never shabby. It was obvious he didn’t work in a fancy office, which was the first thing that came to Bucky’s mind. But Steve never really arrived at a set time, which told Bucky that it wasn’t a regular lunch break. 

He was fiddling with the espresso machine when he heard the door open and Steve’s deep voice made his heart jump. However, the big smile on his face (which might be bigger when he greeted Steve instead of greeting a ‘normal’ customer) died as soon as he laid eyes on him. 

Because Steve had brought someone along this time. A gorgeous redheaded woman. 

She had curves in all the right places. Hell, even her _curves_ had curves. Normally, Bucky would be thrilled about having the opportunity to try his luck with a lady like this. But now. _Now_ he felt sick to his stomach. _Now_ he was feeling strangely disappointed in Steve, which was ridiculous. Ridiculous because there was nothing going on between them. Ridiculous because Steve had never really flirted back. Not _really_. There were a few remarks that Steve had innocently made that were the cause of Bucky lying in bed late at night, awake, imagining Steve in a few not very innocent positions. They were the cause of Bucky getting up late at night, frustrated beyond measure, to take a cold shower. It had never even occurred to Bucky that Steve might have someone. But now she stared warily at him with cool, green eyes. He glared back.

“I’m telling you, Nat, this guy makes the BEST coffee you’ve ever tasted. The best!” Steve had his arm around the woman’s shoulder and enthusiastically guided her towards the counter. The woman looked Bucky up and down with apprehension.

“Steve,” she sighed, and the sound of her voice was deep and husky and Bucky swore that he could have fallen in love with her right then and there if the situation was slightly different, “I said I wanted to have coffee, not a drinkable dessert.”

“Trust me, Nat. Just… trust me.” Steve nudged the woman named Nat forward, beaming at her like a proud father. _Or boyfriend_ , Bucky’s brain treacherously suggested.

Nat narrowed her eyes at Bucky, “I want a coffee.”

“Okay.”

“No fancy things. No foam. No soy. No sprinkles. No _weird_ things.”

“Okay.”

“Just coffee.”

“Alright.”

“Black. No sugar.”

“Very well.”

She eyed his every move with suspicion, apparently convinced that he’d spike her coffee with something fancy at the first unsupervised moment.

When he handed her the cup of coffee, she took a careful sip. Bucky was sure she burned her tongue on the scalding hot liquid, but she didn’t flinch. She didn’t even blink.

“Well?” Steve looked at her in nervous anticipation and Bucky found that he was tense as well, awaiting her judgement on his handiwork.

Nat took another sip, not breaking the eye contact with Bucky. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she nodded. “It’s acceptable,” she said, and Steve let out an audible sigh of relief.

If Bucky hadn’t been so exceptionally jealous of Nat, if he hadn’t felt so incredibly _hurt_ by the idea of Steve choosing this woman over him, if he had actually thought about it, he would’ve thought that little relieved sigh quite odd. But as it was, he didn’t really pay any attention to it. He quickly and efficiently prepared Steve’s cup of coffee and wordlessly handed it to him, earning him an odd look from Steve.

“Hey, Buck. Are you alright?” The latter asked him softly, breaking Bucky’s heart just a little bit more.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Long day, you know how it is,” he muttered, avoiding Steve’s piercing gaze. He rang them up and couldn’t wait for them to leave so he could wallow in self pity.

“So,” Nat suddenly spoke up, as she handed him the cash, “you are the one Steve can’t shut up about?”

What? “What?”

Steve, cheeks suddenly firetruck red, started tugging on her arm, “NAT, no!” he hissed through clenched teeth.

“Steve here,” She motioned with her head towards exhibit A, who was now trying to hide behind her tiny frame, “has been _raving_ about you and your shop for almost a month.” She stood up on her tippy-toes and tried her best to seem broader, before saying, in her best imitation of Steve, “‘Oh, Nat, you wouldn’t believe this shop and this cute guy behind the counter. I want to ask him out but I’m too much of a chickenshit to actually do it’.” 

Bucky felt his mouth fall open in shock (and secret awe, because her Steve-voice is pretty spot on) and he could see Steve hiding his face in both his hands.

“I… I…” Is all his brain can bring forth to his mouth, and before he could gather his wits together again, Steve had dragged Nat outside. Outside, out of the shop. Away.

The shock of Steve running away shook Bucky out of his daze, but he was too late. 

“Shit!” He cursed, slamming his hand on the counter. 

The old lady who was next in line looked at him with an admonishing glare. She was barely able to peek over the counter, but the force of her glare still hit him in full granny force. 

“Language, young man!”

~~

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since Bucky had last seen Steve, running away from the shop. Bucky sighed as he locked the door of StarStruck behind him, shivering a bit in the evening cold. He wished he could stop thinking about that stupid blonde mop of hair, those well-toned muscles underneath that slightly too tight shirt, those ridiculous blue eyes. But, as it was, those thoughts had been haunting him every night for the past three weeks.

He shoved his hands in the pockets of his coat and started walking towards home. Normally he would stay in the well lit street, especially at this time of night, but this night he wasn’t paying attention to the route he was taking. Not until he was face to face with two men and a dagger. A dagger quite pointedly pointed at his face.

“Your wallet. Now.” The owner of the dagger snarled at him.

“Come on, guys, do we really have to do this?” Bucky sighed, slowly taking his hands out of his pockets again. He opened his wallet, showing them there was no money inside. “It’s been a long day. I’m tired. I have no money. How about we all go home and forget this ever happened. Alright?”

“Give me your cellphone!”

“I don’t have a-” He jumped out of the way as soon as the robber tried to stab him. “-cellphone.” The sentence finished in a growl, and the two man circled around him, the metal of the dagger glinting in the light of the full moon in the sky.

“Then we’ll just have to get whatever valuables you do have from your corpse.”

“You’re very welcome to try.”

The man lunged again, at the same time his buddy tried to land a kick to Bucky’s knees. The idea was probably to make Bucky fall to the ground. Thankfully, he had a few years of military training under his belt. He dodged, but having to dodge two attacks simultaneously meant that he couldn’t prevent the knife from grazing his side, cutting through his jacket.

His nice, warm, comfortable winter jacket. Now this was really pissing Bucky off.

“Alright. That’s it. I’m done with you two,” he growled, standing up straight. When the man with the knife came at him again, he grabbed him by the wrist, twisting it until the man dropped the blade with a strangled scream. Then, without much ceremony, he punched the man on the nose, using his metal prosthetic hand. With great satisfaction he heard the nose break, even before the man howled in pain.

He looked up at the man’s friend, “You want some too?” he asked in a low, threatening voice.

“No? Then I suggest you run.”

The man hoisted his friend up and they both got out of there as fast as they could. Bucky watched them go, a sneer on his lips.

“Nice work,” Steve voice suddenly came from behind him, nearly giving him a heart attack.

“Fuck, Steve,” he laughed, forgetting for an instance that he was slightly upset at Steve over running out of the shop like that and not coming back, “I nearly attacked you as well.”

“A good thing I kept my distance then. You handled yourself well,” he nodded at Bucky’s arm, the non-meat one, “Afghanistan?”

Bucky nodded, warily, “Shit happens,” he shrugged awkwardly, “These days it comes in handy-” 

Did… did Steve really _snort_ at that? He didn’t even use that pun on purpose! 

“-when I need to defend myself.” He hastily went on when he saw Steve’s eyebrows go up, “Not that I need to defend myself often. But, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.”

They stood in silence for a few awkward moments.

“Sooo,” Bucky began, “What are you doing here at night? In an alley where I just so happened to be walking?”

Steve laughed and rubbed the back of his neck shyly, “I’m a bit of a police agent. It’s a long story.”

“What, so you roam the streets at night trying to catch robbers?”

“Not exactly. Usually I investigate murders, talk to people, push papers, stuff like that-”

“You’re CSI?”

“-Something like that. Yes. Anyway-”

“That’s not really a long story, though.”

“ _Anyway,_ I felt bad for running out of your store the other day-”

“Week.”

“-Right. The other week. And I couldn’t work up the nerve to walk up to you. But I know that you go home late and that you live in a slightly dangerous part of town, so I-”

“Stalked me.”

Steve glared at him, “ _Followed_ you, making sure you’re alright.” He sighed. “Look. I really like you. I would love to go out with you. I’m sorry I’ve made such a mess of things, I was just really… Look. Would you-”

“Would you like to grab a coffee with me?”

“ _Will you stop interrupting me-_ what?” Flustered Steve was a cute Steve, Bucky decided right there on the spot.

“Would you like to grab a coffee with me?” Bucky asked again.

“But-”

“Now.”

“I-”

“At my house?”

“...yes”.

Needless to say, no coffee was had. 

 


End file.
